Social Media Does Not Have to be Complicated to be Effective

Social media for some people is a big pain in the butt! Many would rather not have to use it at all. But, because it’s such a great marketing tool it becomes a necessary nuisance. Can you relate?

If this sounds like you, you probably feel completely overwhelmed and have no clue where to start. Well, I’m here to help you set up an easy, simple, yet effective social media system you can easily implement and maintain all by yourself (or delegate!).

Ready?

1. Get Clear On Your Social Media Goals

Okay, your first step is to figure out what your goal is. What do you want to achieve?

Here are some examples:

Build your email list

Gain new one-on-one clients

Sell your new program or product

Get new speaking opportunities

Get new writing opportunities

Promote your next event

Even if you are wanting to do all of these things…just PICK ONE! No worries, we’ll get to the rest later. But for now, it’s important to stay focused on one goal and build a social media strategy that will accomplish it with ease. It’s better to be laser focused than to spread yourself too thin trying to do everything at once.

2. Pick ONE Social Media Platform

I know, I know…”they” said you need to be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and Instagram. While all great platforms, they each have different audiences they serve and in completely different ways. It’s important to be clear on which platforms YOUR audience frequents the most!

Why are you just picking one? The same reasoning that applied above applies here too. Being focused is key. Build and master one platform first before expanding to the others.

3. Create Your Social Media Content

Okay, now that you’re clear on your goals and have picked a platform, it’s now time to create your content. An easy system for social media is to make sure you’re covering three things:

Be HelpfulAnswer questions and share content that is truly of value to your audience. The point is not to sell here, but to inform and encourage. The more helpful and resourceful you are, the more people remember you and begin to see you as an expert.Content shared does not always have to be your own! If you’ve come across as article that you’ve found helpful (and is also something your audience is interested in), share!

Be PersonalShare content that lets your audience into your world, helps them get to know you, and makes you relatable. You don’t have to get too personal or share anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. And you don’t have to share a bunch of selfies either.A good way to share personal posts without feeling too vulnerable is to make a list of things you enjoy and share something daily about one of your interests. For example, if you have a pet, love shoes, and love to cook, you can share something interesting and/or humorous from one of those categories.

InviteDepending on what your goal is, create a call to action for your audience. Invite them to your upcoming teleseminar or to download your latest free ebook.

4. Repeat, Master, Then Expand

Use the above as your framework. You can post three times a day, or increase it to a higher frequency as you have time and/or support. The important thing to remember is that you have to be consistent and you have to give it time!

Social media networking is all about relationships. Think about how long it takes to build relationships in real time. It takes time to build trust, right? The same goes for interacting with your community virtually.

Remember that there are actual human beings on the other side of the computer. Treat others with love and respect and not like a dollar sign or number. Be genuine and your dedication will go a long way.

As you begin to see results in regards to your goal (in #1), start adding additional goals one by one. The reason you don’t want to do them all at once is because you want to be clear about what’s working and what’s not working. You may find you need to tweak your wording, the time of day you post, etc. Once you achieve the results you want with one particular goal, then you can add another.

The same goes for your choice in social media networks. Once you’ve built a platform and are beginning to see consistent results on one social media network, you can then begin to expand to the others (making sure they’re in alignment with your goals, of course!).